


Creature Comforts

by demishock



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, IgNoct, Ignoct Week, M/M, World of Ruin, ignoctweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-25 23:16:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20033962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demishock/pseuds/demishock
Summary: The anniversary of Noctis's disappearance.It was a bit of a morbid thing to commemorate, really, but Ignis did so, just the same.





	Creature Comforts

**Author's Note:**

> After over a year of not posting anything, I have emerged from the depths with some more ignoct feels. Huzzah!
> 
> Written for ignoct week 2019, for the Day 1 prompt, "Comfort." I wrote like six different versions of this, but this one is as close as I could get to what I was actually going for, so hopefully it lands.
> 
> Heavily inspired by a bit of incidental dialogue you can get from Cid while playing _Comrades_:  
_"Have ya made it out to Leide since ya settled in here? I know a fella's gone out that way not too long ago. Went all the way to Galdin Quay just to do some fishin'. Said somethin' about gettin' his nutrition. Goes by the name of "Ignis." He ain't seein' too well these days, so give him a holler and lend him a hand if ya see him around, y'hear?"_  
Because ouch.
> 
> This could probably use a few more editing passes, but I need to post it so I can work on Day 2. *___*; If you enjoy the fic, or find anything glaringly wrong, please feel free to let me know!

The anniversary of Noctis's disappearance.

It was a bit of a morbid thing to commemorate, really, but Ignis did so, just the same. They all did, in their own ways - everyone whose lives Noctis had touched.

It had been harder this year to find anyone willing to bring him to Galdin Quay. With a four-hour drive separating the former resort from the relative safety of Lestallum, few were willing to risk venturing there anymore. What remained of the oceanic outpost was manned almost exclusively by those with a particular attachment to the place.

But find someone to do it, Ignis had, and now he made his way down the long boardwalk, reminiscing. How full of hope they'd been, that first time they'd arrived here. How naïve. They may have begun their journey proper in the crown city, but it was here that everything had fallen to pieces.

'Fitting,' he thought as he picked his way through what had once been the Mother of Pearl, 'that the place itself is in ruins now, too.'

He met with no resistance as he continued on to the pier. In previous years, the locals had tried to warn him off:

'More daemonfish in those waters now than anything edible,' they'd cautioned, mistaking his purpose.

He wasn't here for sustenance. At least, not in the physical sense.

Nevertheless, there were a few people milling about the makeshift camp, making what fortifications they could to the remaining hotel structure and sorting through the latest supplies shipped in from Cape Caem. Whether it was because they recognized him, or because people in general were simply more withdrawn these days, they chose to leave him be.

That suited Ignis just fine.

He meandered along the dock until he found a spot that felt right, and turned to face Angelgard.

"Hello, Noct," he said softly.

When they'd escaped the daemon-infested capital of Niflheim and made the harrowing trip back - beaten and broken in every possible way - to what remained of Lucis, Gentiana had graced them with her presence. It was thanks to her council that they knew what little they did of Noctis's current whereabouts, and that his eventual return would be to the umbral isle.

It was also thanks to her (and the other remaining Six) that they had returned emptyhanded from their fools' errand across the sea, with neither King nor Crystal to show for all their efforts. It was thanks to them, too, that when Noctis _did_ eventually return, it would be only so that he might serve the gods' own ends.

But it wasn't as if Ignis was keeping score.

Bitterness aside, he had more important things to do today than lament the machinations of the Astrals. He was here to renew his vow: to patiently await Noctis's return.

To that end, though, he needed some assistance.

Ignis would wait for Noctis forever, of course; that went without saying. But the patience part, he struggled with. He'd been by Noctis's side for nearly fifteen years before they'd been viciously torn apart, and he longed for that steady presence more than he ever would for his home city or his eyesight. They were trifles, by comparison. Ignis could weather any storm, so long as Noctis was there.

Without him…

Well.

These past years had been quite difficult, indeed.

Since Noctis's crystalline departure, Ignis had thrown himself full-force into re-mastering every skill he'd ever known, and then some, determined to be at his best when next they met. He'd been reckless, and foolish, putting himself in all manner of unnecessary danger as he pushed himself beyond every limit he could find. Somehow, it had allowed him to maintain the illusion - at least for a while - that time was passing more quickly than it was - that any minute now, Noctis would appear once again at his side, as suddenly as he'd vanished.

Every moment that Ignis was idle was a moment too long.

Back then, he'd considered the Trial of Gilgamesh. Gladio had found him mulling it over at the Taelpar rest area, and they'd very nearly come to blows over it. Would have, if Ignis could have bloody _aimed_. Wouldn't have needed to consider such drastic measures if Gladio would have just agreed to train him…

Prompto had tried to keep up with him that first year, but Ignis's pace had grown to be too much even for him. Leaving Prompto in his wake, Ignis had spiraled out of control like an uncontained wildfire, razing what was left of Eos in search of any scrap of knowledge that might stop what he knew was coming.

He'd told them both, eventually.

They hadn't spoken since.

Ignis sighed, shaking his head against the painful memories, and held his arm out to the side to draw on the Armiger. He was relieved as always when the item he sought appeared in his hand. The magic was a balm, easing the ache in his chest the tiniest bit as it dispelled any doubt that Noctis was truly gone.

It also meant that Ardyn had, for now, deigned not to interfere with them any more than he already had.

Those unpleasant considerations, too, were for another day. Ignis ignored the phantom pain that ran up his arm and behind his eyes, and focused instead on checking the fishing rod he'd summoned forth.

He could think of no better exercise in patience than Noctis's favorite pastime, and so, in his honor, Ignis cast his borrowed line.

"I'm here," he said to the wind and the waves.

This was as close as Ignis could get to him, for now, and he took what small comfort he could from it.

Tomorrow, he would resume his unending quest to defy Noctis's fate.

Today, he was content to sit in the darkness at the edge of their ruined world and wait for his king to come home.

And if anyone were to notice the saltwater on his cheeks, he could always blame the sea.


End file.
